German Patent Application No. DE 100 24 227 B4 describes a method and a device for the electronic monitoring of the degree of attention of a vehicle driver, through electronic monitoring of the eyes and of eyelid activity, and, given electronic registering of tiredness, an alarm signal is generated and the speed is automatically reduced. The direction of view of the driver is acquired and evaluated, tiredness and the direction of view being determined in accordance with a pattern comparison method. A method is also described for monitoring the eyes and eyelid activity of motor vehicle drivers in which an ADR-regulated, automatically controlled column or congested driving mode evaluates, as an additional parameter, the attentiveness and direction of view of the motor vehicle driver using electro-optical eye and eyelid observation. When driving behind another driver, in situations in which the driver in front departs from the lane due to inattentiveness, or due to a technical defect, or in a manner not appropriate to the situation, an automatic following of this relevant vehicle is suppressed in that the view of the motor vehicle driver, directed straight ahead, is also evaluated as a corrective. There takes place here a corresponding engagement in the electronic gas pedal actuation and/or the electronic or electric braking system, and/or in an electronic or electric steering actuation. In this way, a vehicle driver is, if warranted, capable of controlling the vehicle automatically, through correction or corresponding direction of view and direction of view evaluation. Overall, traffic situations that arise due to inattentiveness, and not only due to sleepiness, should remain capable of being under control, in particular if the vehicle is moving in a column of traffic with short distances from the vehicle in front.
European Patent Application No. EP 1 211 132 B1 describes a system for monitoring the environment surrounding a vehicle using a camera operating in a wide-angle range, an image processing unit that has means for equalizing the images recorded by the camera, and an image display unit, the equalizing means operating adaptively on the basis of a selected image segment, and the equalizing means operating adaptively on the basis of a selected direction of view. Also described is a method for monitoring the environment surrounding the vehicle, having the steps: acquisition of a wide-angle range using a camera, equalization of the images recorded by the camera in an image processing unit, and displaying of at least one image using an image display unit. The equalizing takes place on the basis of an image segment and a direction of view, adaptively selected automatically in particular when reverse gear is engaged or according to the image content, the steering angle, the speed, or the angle of inclination of the camera, or quasi-manually by an operator, in particular a driver.
A user who is moving through or past a scene, e.g., along a route through a landscape or environment, and who wishes to record this in an image, must for this purpose actuate a device for acquiring an image of this scene. Such an actuation or handling is however not possible in many situations, or is possible only with serious disadvantages, for example if the user cannot interrupt his movement at an arbitrary location, or for an arbitrary span of time, as is the case for example when moving in a vehicle or in a situation in which the user, for other reasons, has no remaining time to take the relevant image.